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Summary
Summary
Breathtaking collage art and exquisite rhyming couplets showcase fantastical dreams as the natural world is prepared for a new day in this gentle bedtime book.
As the day ends and a little girl is put to sleep by her mother, night-helper bunnies work their magic to tidy and polish the world. These helpers paint flowers, dust butterflies, and charge rainbows to make the world a beautiful place to wake up to.
Miki Sato's collage art, which combines paper, textiles, and embroidery silk, creates a three-dimensional dream world that is rich in detail and texture. Jennifer Maruno uses soothing rhyming couplets that celebrate the beauty of nature, creating a uniquely magical world.
Author Notes
JenniferMaruno isthe author of seven novels for middle grade and young adult readers as well asthe picture book Moose's Roof . Her novels have been nominated for the PacificNorthwest Young Readers Choice Award, the Hamilton Arts and Culture Award, the RockyMountain Book Award, and more. She received her Bachelor of Arts from WaterlooUniversity and Master of Education from Brock University. Formerly the Vice-Presidentof the Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers,among other literary roles, Jennifer currently enjoys writing and mentoringother writers full time. Jennifer lives in Burlington, Ontario. MikiSato is a Japanese-Canadian illustrator who uses a varietyof different textures and materials to create three-dimensional images.Originally from Ottawa, she moved to Toronto to complete her degree inillustration from the Ontario College of Art and Design. Her picture booksinclude Snow Days, which was a finalist for the Elizabeth Mrazik-CleaverCanadian Picture Book Award, Sunny Days , which was a 2021 CBC Books BestBook, Windy Days , which won a Northern Lights Book Award, and RainyDays .
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In rhyming couplets, a caregiver encourages a child (both are portrayed with light skin and dark hair) to embrace bedtime so that a crew of bunny helpmeets can begin their work tidying up the world. As a child's caregiver turns off the light and offers a bedtime kiss, lines describe the "chores," many seemingly in service of rhyme, being completed by toy stuffed rabbits come to life: "Comb the grass, straighten the trees,/ Place a dot on the black-eyed peas." Other imagery draws heavily on sewing metaphors, aligning with Sato's collaged illustrations, which rely on paper, textiles, and embroidery silk: when "the woven night of black and gray" is described as being "embroidered with a Milky Way," the child is shown yawning beneath an inky knit blanket and a purple embroidered sky. Throughout, the textured scenes remix details from the child's waking life into suitably snuggly dreamscapes. Ages 2--5. (Nov.)
Kirkus Review
A peek into the busy Land of Nod. As the day winds down, a child with beige skin and dark hair gathers toys and brings three cuddly rabbits to bed, tucked beneath the covers. The child's parent says good night and tucks the little one in. Maruno narrates in flawless and immersive rhyming verse as the toys come to life and repair and renew the world for the coming day. "Once you close your tired eyes, / It's time to dust the butterflies." An inquisitive cat appears on almost every spread, expressing curiosity and supervising various activities, including mending clouds, painting flowers, restitching the sunny sky to the green farmland, and embroidering the Milky Way into the dark night sky. Sato uses materials such as silk, paper, and textiles to infuse each spread with tangible, three-dimensional textures and depth. Readers will linger over each tiny, essential detail--nothing is extraneous. Even the perspectives shift and change; the child shrinks and grows as they travel through this task-filled dream world, adding to the dramatic tension. Like the materials on many of the spreads, the text and art are expertly stitched together, each visible and impactful on their own and interwoven into a bewitching whole. A perfect bedtime selection for eye-catching, vibrantly colorful dreams. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
It's time for bed for the young girl at the center of this sweet bedtime book. Once she's snugly settled in, alongside her three plush toy bunnies, her mom says, "while you sleep, / there's work to be done," and that work becomes the fanciful subject of the vibrant, dimensional, mixed-media collage artwork. As the girl sleeps, the bunnies get busy, tidying and getting things ready for another day--soft clouds are "stuffed, sewn, and mended"; the sky is "re-stitched to the land below, / Rainbows charged to keep their glow"; and deep-hued night is "embroidered with a Milky Way." The dreamy, lyrical couplets pair beautifully with the enchanting, lushly layered illustrations composed of fabric, yarn, embroidery, and paper that altogether artfully and imaginatively create a fanciful, dynamic atmosphere full of fun details: the girl wanders through a garden of bright, oversize flowers, paintbrushes, and color pencils; the girl's cat eyes the yarn the bunnies use to decorate the night sky; and so on. There's much to engage and charm in this whimsical, sweet, and reassuring bedtime read.
